The American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA) and the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI) are coordinating a group of industry leaders, the Boxwood Blight Working Group (BBWG), to identify the best management practices (BMPs) and research priorities to deal with boxwood blight in a proactive and rational manner.
Boxwood blight is a disease that causes stem lesions and significant leaf drop when the necessary environmental conditions are met. Since last fall detections have been confirmed from nine states (CT, MA, MD, NC, NY, OR, PA, RI, VA) and the Canadian province of British Columbia.
BBWG members are diverse geographically and with respect to their operations, and are from states where the disease has been found and states where it has not. BBWG members include John Coulter, Fisher Farms (OR); Stanley Foster, Greenleaf Nursery Co. (NC); Jerry Lee, Monrovia Growers (GA); Tom Saunders, Saunders Brothers (VA); Peter Scarff, Scarff’s Nursery (OH); Greg Schaan, Imperial Nurseries (CT); and Karen Suslow, Hines Growers (CA).
The BBWG is currently evaluating a draft set of BMPs along with comments and suggestions provided by representatives from the National Plant Board and the US Department of Agriculture. In addition to shaping the framework for risk management and research priorities, the BBWG will help ANLA and HRI to communicate their findings via the website www.boxwoodblight.org.
Photo courtesy of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.